Tackling Crime Through Problem-Oriented Partnerships

Problem-oriented partnerships (POPs) are a way of local groups coming together to address specific clusters of disorder or crime in an area. There are a number of successful POP initiatives operating across London to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, and their achievements will be recognised at the Safer London Problem-Orientated Partnership Awards on 8 July at City Hall.

Overview

Problem-oriented partnerships are a way of local groups - including councils, the police and communities - coming together to address specific local issues. Problem-oriented policing uses this approach to tackle clusters of disorder or crime in an area, such as anti-social behaviour, burglary or criminal damage. It focuses on the underlying causes of this disorder and develops responses that are specific to the identified problems and areas, so that officers do not have to keep returning to the same issue.

In London, the Metropolitan Police Service Safer Neighborhoods Teams, supported by local authorities, agencies and communities, deliver problem-oriented policing. Local authorities play a key role and contribute a substantial amount of their community safety budgets towards supporting local policing in their areas; a large proportion of this contribution goes towards the cost of Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs), who work together with the police to address localised clusters of crime.

The Problem-Oriented Partnership Awards¹, funded by London Councils, were set up to celebrate the success of local partnerships in using problem-solving to reduce crime and disorder. Now in their sixth year, projects entered for the awards must clearly illustrate that they have used problem-oriented policing² and, when evaluated, can demonstrate that the solutions put in place worked.

This year’s projects, as discussed in this briefing, illustrate that crime and disorder can be tackled not just by dealing with the harmful consequences of particular problems, but by understanding the underlying causes. By designing solutions that are unique and specific to particular areas, these projects have helped to reduce crime and disorder for all those affected. To do this, these projects have developed key partnerships with a range of local stakeholders.

¹ The awards are a collaboration between London Councils, Transport for London (TFL), Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Safer London Foundation (SLF). ² http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hopolicers/fcdps75.pdf The 2011 POP Awards finalists

Local partnerships were invited to apply for two separate categories for the 2011 awards: the Safer Communities Award or the Safer Transport Award.

- **Safer Communities POP Award** - This focuses on any aspect of community safety partnership initiatives that tackle disorder and crime locally using problem-solving techniques.

- **Safer Travel POP Award** - This focuses on any aspect of community safety partnership work that has led to significant reductions in crime, disorder or the fear of crime among people using the public transport network.

Six POP Award finalists were selected from across London, each successful in addressing crime affecting people in their local areas. These projects illustrate strong local partnership-working and have responded to the specific concerns of local communities.

**Safer Communities Awards finalists**

**Queen Mary University – Tower Hamlets**

Mile End and Globe Town Safer Neighborhood Teams in Tower Hamlets found that burglaries were increasing every year and coinciding with the annual influx of students at the local university every September. They also found that the fear of crime within the campus was increasing and impacting on the surrounding community.

The team carried out a comprehensive environmental assessment of the campus, which provided them with a greater understanding of some of the underlying causes for the increase in crime. The team then identified a range of partnership resources required to reduce the risk of burglaries occurring. The teams pulled together the resources and, through partnership-working, reduced notifiable offences by 65 per cent and bike thefts from seven over a three-month period in 2009, to zero over the same period in 2010.

**Safe as Houses – Enfield**

After a steady increase in burglaries, Enfield was facing London’s second highest burglary rate and eighth highest nationally. Previous responses to local burglaries had been reactive, addressing the symptoms of the problem rather than the underlying causes. A partnership was developed between the police, the local authority and other key agencies to address this problem. Problem-solving principles were applied, beginning with an in-depth study showing annual patterns of burglary and identification of chronic problem areas.

The strong intelligence gathered regarding victims and locations enabled the partnership to target these problem areas. More than 3,000 households in the most problematic areas were targeted and 88 alley gates were installed. The resulting 46.7 per cent reduction in burglaries surpassed the project’s initial target of achieving a 7.5 per cent reduction.

**Focus E15 building – Newham**

The UK Foyer initiative attempts to help vulnerable young people to find work, accommodation and support. The Focus E15 building in Newham is the largest foyer in the UK, accommodating 210 local people aged 16-24. The size of the premises, coupled with the vulnerability and offending potential of the residents, generated a hotspot for crime and anti-social behaviour, which affected local residents in the area.

A partnership approach between the police, local authority and other key agencies using problem-solving principles was set up to consider how to address the problems at Focus E15. Several steps were taken:

- ‘Suitability to reside’ - a scheme that vets applicants to Focus E15 was set up, rejecting those young people with a conviction history deemed to have a negative influence on other residents.
- A new visitor management system prevents anonymity of visitors to the Focus building.
- A dispersal zone and the introduction of a police room in the reception area have improved the perception of police presence and general safety of the building.

These measures have resulted in a 92 per cent reduction in complaints made to the local authority; Focus building residents and visitor arrests reduced by 63 per cent; crime incidents fell by 43 per cent; burglary fell by 89 per cent; and criminal damage reduced by 75 per cent.

**Safer Transport Awards finalists**

**Improving safety on Orpington’s buses - Bromley**

Orpington College is a large community college situated in Orpington town centre. Seventy-five per cent of the college’s students do not live within the borough and have to travel in from inner city boroughs to get to college. For several years, Orpington town centre and local public transport networks were marred by incidents of violence and disorder caused by a small minority of students from the college.

The Safer Transport Team in Orpington formed a partnership with key agencies to combat the escalating levels of crime and anti-social behaviour. They implemented a series of immediate short-term solutions, such as high visibility policing; rigorous use of stop and search powers; engagement days with new students; weapon sweeps; and a very proactive approach to the investigation of offences and the arrest of those responsible. So far, the 2010/11 college term has seen no reported incidents of serious violence or disorder associated with students from the college.

**Reducing bike theft - Safer Transport Command**

The focus of this London-wide project was to encourage more people in London to take up cycling. However, the high number of bike thefts was found to be a barrier to cycling for many. Metropolitan Police figures show that 18,216 bikes were stolen during 2008/9. A number of factors for this were identified, including cyclists not using good locking practice; cyclists not keeping records of their bikes; websites offering avenues for resale of stolen bikes; and low detection rates and sentences making bike theft a low-risk offence.

A co-ordinated multi-agency approach was set up to better understand and tackle the causes of bike theft. This included a task force of 30 officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), funded by Transport for London (TfL). Through working with websites to share information around suspicious activity, targeting hotspots for bike theft and widespread campaigning, bike theft has decreased by 6 per cent from April 2010 to February 2011.

**Tackling illegal cabs - Wandsworth**

Clapham Junction and Battersea Rise had a problem with unlicensed, illegal mini cabs touting for business. Illegal, unlicensed mini-cabs are linked to sexual assaults on vulnerable women, and illegal touts often target women travelling home after frequenting bars or night clubs.

Through multi-agency working, intelligence was gathered to identify local repeat offenders in the area. Availability of licensed mini cabs, which could be booked through licensed mini cab operators, was also increased and a publicity campaign was launched to educate the public on the dangers of taking illegal, unlicensed mini cabs. This work has helped stop many of the illegal cabs previously identified as repeat offenders, with a dramatic drop of 90 per cent in the numbers of illegal taxi touts in the Battersea area. A long-term strategy has also been developed for tackling illegal mini cab touts in the area. Commentary

Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of the police. However, the success of POPs between local agencies and local communities has highlighted and embedded the importance of developing partnerships for the purpose of tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

Partnership-working is key for the success of POP projects; together with the police, communities and councils are in touch with local problems and should be the driving force in the identification and development of POP projects and local solutions. POP projects are an effective way of addressing key local community safety concerns, because they are locally driven and are responsive to local priorities.

Furthermore, partnership-working to address community safety also offers opportunities for local authorities and police to pool their resources for the purpose of addressing crime.

Whichever project wins the 2011 Safer London POP Awards, all the projects highlighted in this briefing have demonstrated that by using problem-solving, local partnerships and local engagement techniques, pockets of crime affecting particular areas can be effectively tackled.